RPGs with Kids, 5: Push the Button

My boy and I had an awesome follow-up session to our maiden voyage of Galaxy Far Away. 

Last time, the crew of the Brave Eagle (Ithak, Jenssi, Dash, and 10-N) knocked over a supply depot held by Imperial troops in order to jack some contraband tibanna gas for use as Rebel hyperdrive fuel. There were some rigged explosions, burgeoning Force powers, and a funny conversation with a stormtrooper in an elevator. Ultimately, Dash got shot (but recovered!), and the Brave Eagle returned to the moon of Corellia where Commander Suto gave everyone a word of congratulations for the mission. Most importantly, my young son, Ted, had a wonderful time playing Star Wars.

For the next session, Suto tasks the crew with finding a refinery to process the tibanna gas into actionable fuel for Rebel ships. A tip-off leads to Onderon across the Inner Rim from Corellia where another operative, Janna Kor, leads a recon group. Janna is a seasoned Rebel who has a heavily-modded A-Wing at her disposal, and is currently assigned with R2-D2 (Ted's request!). She often zips around the planet spying on Imperial operations and looking for weaknesses. Ithak (Ted's main character) hits it off with Janna quickly, and the two put their heads together to make a daring plan--use the tibanna gas as an explosive, blow up the biggest Imperial refinery on Onderon, and steal all of their fuel. All I had to do was let slip to Ted that tibanna gas is very volatile and can blow up, and the rest of the plan was all his.

My favorite take on Onderon was from Knights of the Old Republic II.

RPGs with Kids, 4: Frag Grenades and Force Powers

A little while ago I wrote Galaxy Far Away to play Star Wars with my young son, and we finally sat down to do just that this weekend. 

With a few questions and d6 rolls, Ted created Ithak the Ithorian, a Force-sensitive X-Wing pilot and loyal Rebel who is very shy but loves his family. He's great at sneaking around. At some point in the past he went to Tatooine and was ambushed by Tusken Raiders and is afraid to return to the planet. He also met R2-D2 once and they became good friends. His goal is to find Yoda and get real training in the Force.

Ithak the Ithorian, our protagonist

RPGs with Kids, 2: Daring Escape!

Rock is exhausted, reeling under a curse of The Dark One. Roxley's torch is running out, sputtering in the predatory dark. Anjo is laden down with treasure, barely able to make a step without dropping something of value.

This is where we pick up session 2 of Caverns of Thracia via Into the Odd with my five-year-old, Ted.

It's simple, really. Make a big score, then get out and secure it for profit. Simple. Simple. Even my little son knew the jig was likely up when I presented the situation as such in response to his question, "what should we do now?" The party skulked back through the dark undercaverns of the jungle ruins, crossing the trapped bridge with care, and alighting on the cobbled platform where their rope hangs solitary from the pinprick of light far above in the ceiling. "We should get out of here," I offer as Roxley, when Ted asks his peers for their opinion. Ah, but the glint of hubris sprung alight in young Ted's eye as he pored over the map and saw another corridor just to the east of the party's position.

A Long Fulsiform Object, Jules Férat

RPGs with Kids, 1: Into Thracia

Here's the thing, I've played (and more often run) a lot of online RPG stuff over the years. It's great, and I don't deny how much I enjoy it. Play-by-Forum has become a bit of an artform since I started in 2015, and I rarely have a dull day since those notifications always pop up with something delightful.

I don't have a local game group and don't really have the time to go find one, so I've put off live games for a while... until now. Until now, that is, because my oldest son, Ted, turned five years old a little while back, and I thought I'd risk possible over-the-headedness by offering to run a proper dungeon delve for him. He's already a very enthusiastic storyteller, so I didn't think it would be all that big a stretch for him to get into the game.

Opting to start as simply possible, it was a toss-up for me between using Maze Rats and Into the Odd for the game, and I opted for the latter, if for no other reason but because I've been running Maze Rats for two parallel tables of Hot Springs Island over on RPGGeek.com. So, Into the Odd it was, and Ted really enjoyed rolling up some characters. I decided that I'd run Caverns of Thracia for him...

Anjo, Roxley, and Rock descend into Thracia...